Silver-washed Fritillary at Bedford Purlieus

A couple of Hairstreaks

Purple Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak

White Letter Hairstreak

White Letter Hairstreak

White Letter Hairstreak

White-letter day

It has been a poor year for White-letter Hairstreaks at Bedford Purlieus, I think only a handful have been reported and up until today I had not seen one, despite my numerous visits. That was to change with the sighting of two rather tatty individuals, with one of these quite literally falling out of an oak tree and landing on some wild thyme right in front of me.

The poor creatures look decidedly worse for wear and I don't think they will last much longer, in fact, after the thunder storm that was experienced this evening I fear that they are no longer with us.

The three photos above show the individual that fell out of the oak tree

This is obviously a different butterfly as seen by the hindwing being in a slightly better state.

A small butterfly with a wingspan of 35mm and a fairly short flight period, with individuals normally appearing from July until mid-August. It normally feeds high in the tree canopy on honey dew, although it sometimes feeds on flowers and thistles. It is the darkest and 'plainest' of the Hairstreaks, although the uppersides of the wings are never seen as it always feeds and rests with its wings closed. This butterfly is identified by the conspicuous white 'W' on the hindwing underside.

Silver-washed Fritillaries

Got a bit carried away taking photos of these lovely flutters at Bedford Purlieus last week-end. There were at least 10 individuals, some a bit tatty, but others looked very pristine indeed. The photos below show the colour differences in the same species.

Marbled White

I have seen one Marbled White butterfly this 'summer' and that was at Bedford Purlieus the other day. A very obliging individual who must have been getting fed up with being photographed as there were 4 of us standing around poking lenses at it! It stayed perfectly still for about half an hour and then it obviously had enough and was off.

Getting a bit more used to the camera now, but still a way to go.

Butterflies

There was a strange yellow thing in the sky on Sunday and so, armed with my new camera I set out for a local wood called Bedford Purlieus to see if I could photograph some butterflies.

This wood is known for a few species, the White-letter Hairstreak, the Purple Hairstreak, the Silver-washed Fritillary and the White Admiral. Only two of these species were seen, the Silver-washed Fritillary and the Purple Hairstreak, the other two were absent, either not yet emerged or missed during the visit. There were good numbers of Silver-washed Fritillaries present, I counted at least 12 of these lovely butterflies, the largest of our fritillaries, but there were just 2 Purple Hairstreaks present, with myself seeing the one and that was thanks to a lady who kindly showed me where she had seen it cowering in the long grass. There were good numbers of Ringlets and Meadow Browns present and I saw at least 4 Commas, but the White-letters and the White Admirals were notable by their absence.

 Thi Purple Hairstreak was very tolerant, crawling on to my finger and just sitting there while I took this shot!

My new camera is a Canon Powershot SX40 HS, what is known as a `bridge` camera, halfway between a `point and shoot` and a DSLR. I have bought it really to use in photographing insects as I was sick of the creature flying away when approached with my little A640. I have yet to master the settings etc as I have only had it a week, but will hopefully mange a few more half-decent images in the future ( any pointers form those more experienced photographers out there would be gratefully received! ).

Bedford Purlieus butterflies

White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album)

White Admiral (Limenitis camilla)

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)

Large Skipper (Ochlodes venata)

Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia)

Purple Hairstreak (Neozephyrus quercus)

Last weekend the weather was perfect for butterflies and so Lisa and I spent Saturday searching the woods at Bedford Purlieus and the chalk fields of Barnack Hills and Holes. Above are photographs of some of the species seen at Bedford Purlieus, I will put the ones of Hills and Holes on another as there are quite a few!

The stars of the show at the woods were the Silver-washed Fritillaries, we counted at least 35 individuals, with at least 10 Purple Hairstreaks, 3 White-letter Hairstreaks, 2 White Admirals, plus numerous Meadow Browns, Large and Small Whites, Green-veined Whites, Large Skippers, Speckled Woods, a few Red Admirals and Commas and the most numerous species was the Ringlet.

The sun was shining and the Silver-washed Fritillaries were very busy flying up and down the rides, very briefly stopping on a bramble or wild Thyme, but never long enough to get a decent photo (I managed one, but at distance). Also, the Purple Hairstreaks were very high up in the canopy of 200 feet oak trees, the only photo was taken by Digiscoping and the result is not very pleasing, but the butterfly is identifiable.

All photographs, except the Purple Hairstreak were taken with my hand-held Canon Powershot A640.

Where are all the butterflies?

All photo`s taken with hand-held Canon Powershot A640

There has been a distinct lack of butterflies this summer, none more so than on my recent visit to Bedford Purlieus the other day. The sun was shining and Lisa and I had finished work relatively early so we decided to go for a walk around the nature reserve to see if any butterflies were on show. After 2 hours of trudging around a very beautiful wood we didn`t have much to show for our efforts! Lots of Speckled Woods, a few Meadow Browns, a couple of Ringlets (not pictured), several Small Whites (again, not pictured) and what I think is an Essex Skipper, although it could be a Small Skipper, not quite sure as the antenna do look black, but I am no expert!

The day after our visit White-letter Hairstreaks and Silver-washed Fritillaries were being reported, so we obviously chose the wrong day! However, we will return and hopefully get to see a few more species at this lovely wood.

Butterflies are having a tough time of it at the moment with overall numbers in massive decline, with common species such as Meadow Brown falling by up to a fifth in numbers in 2010 compared with 2009. Certain species are showing signs of improvement due to the help of conservation work, but the future does look bleak. Follow my link to Butterfly Conservation to see what you can do to help.